On The Edge
by laurelsblue
Summary: Various ficlets about Hidan, Kakuzu and Yugito. #2 - With Your Soul. AU. Kakuzu has a favour to ask of the Nekomata.
1. Living Dead Girl

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Living Dead Girl

Sometimes after she digs them up, she lingers in the graveyard. They don't ask her what she hears when she plunges her hands into the ground and listens to the voices that are only audible to her.

They have been doing this for a long time. At first, it was only Kakuzu and Hidan. They found Yugito in a graveyard after they paid someone to dig them up. Hidan asked her what the – she was doing and she replied that she was listening to the dead. She is very good at listening of all kinds. Kakuzu saw someone who might dig them up for free. Hidan shuddered and doesn't like to think about what he saw.

It's Kakuzu's job to get the money while Hidan causes a distraction. Mostly this consists of loudly lecturing people about the benefits of Jashinism. Occasionally, he shoots himself, not too often though as it could cause someone to put two and two together and figure out that the string of robberies and subsequent suicides in custody are linked.

Kakuzu is in it for the money. Hidan knows that this is a good way to spread Jashinism. (The best way involves too much dirt for his liking. He can cope with blood but can't stand dirt.) Yugito does it because it means she can spend more time in graveyards, the only places she really feels calm.

They don't worry about Yugito getting caught. She can disappear even when you're looking straight at her. Sooner or later, she will no longer be with them, they know, so they make use of her while they still can. Perhaps she will move on and become truly dead, not the twisted mockery of life that all three of them are. Of course, there is the very real possibility that she was never actually with them to begin with.

When she does go, Hidan adds her beads to his rosary. Kakuzu takes the thread they were on and uses it on himself. They are very good at not wasting things. She still digs them up, however, they do not see her waiting for them, her hands still in the earth, eyes closed as she listens to the dead.

* * *

Blame Ayien's Nine Broken Mirrors for this idea of Yugito's abilities and Senri for making Hidan/Yugito/Kakuzu my first OT3.

They're just friends here as far as I know.

I'd originally planned for them to be a bit more like Amanda and Cory from Highlander when they went on their five-state robbery spree but Yugito wanted to spend time in graveyards.

The world needs more of these three together.


	2. With Your Soul

With Your Soul

Kakuzu stops at the entrance to a shrine. A pair of identical girls appear and bow to him.

"Welcome, Kakuzu-sama. Okaa-sama has been told of your presence and grants you an audience. Your companion must wait here though, she does not welcome his kind in her presence," they say in unison.

"Stay here, I should be back soon," Kakuzu orders Hidan.

* * *

"Kakuzu-sama is here to see you, okaa-sama," one of her attendants informs her.

The nekomata stretches languidly. Kakuzu is one of her favourite humans and his visits are always interesting. She wonders why he'd come to see her now though when he had not called in on her in over a decade.

"Send him in immediately."

* * *

Kakuzu enters the main room of the temple and lays his burden on the table in the middle. He kneels on the cushions provided and keeps his eyes lowered as he hears soft footsteps approach the table.

"You always bring me the most fascinating things, Kakuzu," the nekomata purrs. "You may look at me now."

He flicks his gaze towards her face. As usual when he sees her, she wears the form of a young woman in a dark blue kimono patterned with silver cats. She leans over Yugito's body and inhales her scent.

"A lesser nekomata and an ushi-oni? Such an varied life for one so young. She intrigues me. Return in a week and she will be ready for you."

"Yes, nekomata-sama."

"There is no need to be so formal with me, Kakuzu. You are one of my favoured ones after all."

He nods.

She eyes him speculatively.

"The usual payment. Bring it when you collect her."

It's a clear dismissal and an attendant opens the door. He doesn't look back as he exits. That lesson was learnt painfully a long time ago.

* * *

Kakuzu and the nekomata go back a long way. No idea what the deal was or what the usual payment is though.

This isn't the Nibi by the way. This nekomata is a lot older and more powerful.


End file.
